Bengals, Redskins Release Veterans O’Donnell, Allen

After two days of selecting college players, the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins shortened their rosters Monday by releasing veterans Neil O’Donnell and Terry Allen, respectively.

O’Donnell, 32, was let go by the Bengals, nine months after they signed the quarterback to a four-year, $17-million deal, hoping he would end their decade-long search for a dependable passer. That search continued in the draft Saturday with the selection of Akili Smith of Oregon with the third overall pick.

The Redskins released Allen, 31, who had led the team in rushing for the fourth consecutive season. Injuries and an unsettled ownership issue led to his release.

The Redskins will probably hand the rushing duties over to former UCLA standout Skip Hicks.

The Bengals still have five quarterbacks--starter Jeff Blake, Paul Justin, Eric Kresser, Smith and Scott Covington, selected in the seventh round from Miami.

“This is what he wants,” Bengal General Manager Mike Brown said of O’Donnell. “He wants to be freed to sign elsewhere as soon as possible. Last year when he came here, he came so late that it was hard for him to catch up.”

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The Kansas City Chiefs signed Emporia State running back Brian Shay, a rookie free agent who holds the NCAA record for yards rushing, 6,958.

Local Colleges

USC receiver Troy Garner will undergo surgery on a torn ligament in his left knee suffered in a scrimmage Saturday and is expected to miss the 1999 season. Garner, a junior, is the second USC player to suffer a serious knee injury during spring drills. Sophomore linebacker Mike Pollard was hurt earlier.

Jan van Breda Kolff was officially introduced as coach of the Pepperdine men’s basketball team at a news conference.

His first order of business was to meet with players, then call the school’s four recruits it has signed for next season, before getting to work today on putting together a coaching staff.

At the news conference, van Breda Kolff, son of former Laker coach Butch van Breda Kolff, said he planned on implementing an up-tempo style offense, a change from last season when the Waves averaged 65 points.

He also plans on using a trapping zone defense, opposed to the man-to-man defense preferred by former coach Lorenzo Romar.

Van Breda Kolff spent the past six years coaching at Vanderbilt, where he had a 104-81 record. He was at Cornell two years before that. His overall record is 127-110.

Van Breda Kolff, 47, spent nine years as a player in the NBA, seven with New Jersey.

The Waves were 19-13 last season, finishing second in the regular season to Sweet 16 participant Gonzaga. Pepperdine earned a berth to the National Invitation Tournament, where it lost to Colorado in the first round.

Names in the News

Patricia Bibbs, the women’s basketball coach at Hampton University, her husband and an assistant coach filed a $30-million lawsuit over their detainment last fall by police in Lubbock, Texas, who were investigating an alleged scam.

The three were detained Nov. 16 outside a discount store by officers responding to a customer’s complaint that someone tried to scam her. The three were handcuffed and held for several hours. The lawsuit contends police engaged in racially discriminatory behavior.

Women’s World Cup organizers said the soccer championship has sold more than 325,000 tickets and there is a chance that the opening doubleheader June 19 at Giants Stadium at East Rutherford, N.J., will sell out. Initial estimates of potential sales were 312,000.

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson moved a step closer to a return to track when a legal review said he had grounds to appeal his lifetime ban for doping.

A Canadian arbitrator said procedural errors in Johnson’s 1993 lifetime suspension for drug use could open the door for the sprinter’s return. Johnson, 37, was kicked out of the 1988 Olympics for steroid use. He still must win approval from international track authorities.

Boris Becker rallied from three games down in the final set to defeat Frenchman Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, in the first round of the Monte Carlo Open tennis tournament. Becker has never won a tournament on clay.

Top-seeded Jason Stoltenberg of Australia defeated Justin Gimelstob, 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, in the first round of the Clay Court Championships at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Lennox Lewis promoter Panos Eliades said that Evander Holyfield’s promoter, Don King, Lewis’ representatives and HBO cable network officials were expected to meet, possibly in London, in mid-May to determine a site and date for the heavyweight championship rematch. New York and Las Vegas are in contention for the bout, which will be held Nov. 6 or 13.

Eliades said Madison Square Garden, the site of the disputed heavyweight title draw on March 13, is trying to make a bid of more than $10 million. Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas reportedly has offered $10 million.

Randy Harvey is on vacation